Welt-butting machine



A, EPPLER. WELT BUTTING MACHINE- APPLICATION men APR. 12. 1919.

Patented Apr. '4, 1922.

I IIIII-Il Fig. 1.

A. EPPLER.

WELT BUTTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. I2. 1919.

'1 ,41 1,481, Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT'OFFICE;

ANDREW EPPLER, 0F LYNN, MASSAGHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHQE MACHIN- ERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF JERSEY.

WELT-BUTTIN G MACHINE.

Application filed April 12, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW EPPLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at LMynn, in the county of Essex and State of assachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in W'elt-Butting Machines of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. 7 This invention relates to machines for manufacturing welted boots and shoes and particularlyto machines for cutting ofl the ends of the welts of boots and shoes. Such machines are designed to perfect the joint formed between the end portion of the welt and the outsole and are known in the art as welt butting machines.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved machine organization which will facilitate removal of the excess of material at the end portions of the welt and which will so form the ends of the welt that an improvefdjoint will be made between the endportions of the weltand the outsole.

Features of the invention consist in a novel organization. ofa continuously rotated cutter and means for supporting, locating and presenting the welt tothe cutter, which, as shown, provides for shaving or planing off the ends of the welt a little at atime, as distinguished from prior machines which could only be operated to remove the entire welt end by a single stroke of a knife.

Another feature of the invention consists ina beatermember associated with the knife which acts in advance of the operation of the cutter to compress and beat down the welt against the welt supporting means and pref erably acts prior to each operation of the cutterin removinga-shaving. As a result the welt end ispermanent-ly compressed. and beaten in place upon the heel seat, enabling the cutter to make a cleaner. cut and to effect the butting operation by the removal of less materialthan is the case where such beating and compressing is not effected. As shown, the beater comprises a yielding member mounted on the cutter carrier and having its :free'end-urged outwardly into welt engaging positionby centrifugal force due to rotation of thecutter carrier.

ogtnother featu he ion enesi Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4 1922.

Serial No. 289,517.

in novel means for centering the welt end relatively to the knife which means consists, as shown herein, of a member having the formof a blade extending under the welt and provided with a notch'in its end which. is adapted to engage the stitches by which the welt is heldto the shoe and to position the welt laterally for the operation of the cuttein, Preferably the end of the notch is sharpened to enable stitches which extend too close to the heel seat to be cut by rearward movement of the shoe.

Astill further feature of the invention conslsts in means for beveling the welt at such a transverse angle that the outer portion of the beveled end ofthe welt will have a longer taper than the inner portion so that a tighter joint between the end of the welt and the outsole may be formed than is possible when the inner and outer portions of the skived welt have the same taper or when the outer edge has a shorter taper than the inner edge, as has;been practical heretofore. As shown herein, the 'blade which extends beneath the welt has its side portions downwardly and outwardly inclined so that when'either the welt end at the inner or the outer side of the shoe is presented to the blade the outer edge portion 1 of the. welt will be relatively unsupported and will be forced downby'the action ofthe knife and a longer taper willbe formed upon itthan upon the higher and inner edge portion of the welt. The heater contributes materially to the result of forcing the welt end into contact with thebeveled face'of the welt positioning member.

These and other features ofthe invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be pointed ,outin the appended claims.

In the. drawings, I

Fig. l is aside elevation of a machine embodying this invention; I

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the work positioning means with :the work in position andthe cutterabout to act upon the welt. nd; a I

Fig. 3 is a detail of the blade whichengages thelshoe under the welt;

Fig. ,4 is a perspective vieweshowing a modified form of blade for bevelingthe two sides of the end of th we ia difieren angles in accordance with a feature of this invention; and

Fig. 5'is a perspective view of the blade shown in Fig. 4.

In the drawings 2 represents the frame of the machine which may conveniently be secured to a. bench or table. Journaled in.

the frame 2 is a shaft 4 upon which a rotary cutter carrier 6 1s mounted the shaft being from engagement with a stop projection 9 of the clutch, allowingthe rlutchto become set and the cutterfi to be driven continu ously. When the treadle rod 3 is released by removal of the foot from the treadle, a spring 11 returns the end of the lever 5 into the path of the projection 9 and causes the clutch to be thrown out so that the cutters are not operated when the machine is not in use. To guard against injury to the operative the cutter is preferably enclosed in a casing 10 which is open only atthe bottom, and as a further protection to the operator a flap 12 may be provided partially to close the opening in the casing. As shown the cutter carrier is provided with two knives .14 which act successively upon the work as the cutter carrier rotates, and in advance of each knife is a resilient member 16 secured atone end to the rotary cutter carrier and having the other end adjacent to the cutting edge of the knife 14. The outer face of the member 16 is preferably substantially in the path of rotation of the knife edge and the free end of the member is caused to move outwardly of the edge of the cutter by rentrifugal force due to rotation of the cutter. When the work is presented. to the knife the free ends of the resilient member 16 are deflected inwardly to expose the cutting edge of the knife which will then act upon the work. i

The shoe positioning mechanism comprises a member 20 pivoted to the frame 2 at 22 andcarrying at its upper end a blade 24 which projects forwardly and a rear abutment 26 against which the rear end of the shoe is positioned. The member 20 is normally held by'a spring 28 in forwardly and downwardly inclined position. foupresentation of the shoe to the positioning means 24, 26, a stop 30 being provided to limit the movement of the member 20 into work receiving position. An adjustable stop 32 is provided for limiting the movement of the work positioning means into operative position. The stop may comprise a screw 32 (Fig.1) having a milled head 34 and lock nut 36, the end of the screw 32 being arranged to be engaged by the rear face of the member 20.

I The shoe is presented with the blade 24 extending beneath the end of the Weltand the rear face of the shoe against the stop 26 which is arranged for adjustment longitudinally of the shoe and is held in position by a set screw 38 (Fig. 2). The blade 24 is also arranged for longitudinal adjustment in a groove in the member 20 by means of a slot and a set screw 40. The blade 24 is preferably provided with. graduations ilo to enable the blade to be set'longitudinally of the shoein such predetermined osit ion that the portion of the blade extending wardly of the abutment 26 will locate shoes of different sizesproperly for the action of the cutters 14 and cause the welt to be bev; eled at the proper point longitudinally a of the shoe. The forwarder weltengagi'ng end of the blade may be formed as shown in Fig. 3. This end of the blade is provided with a notch 42 which is sharpened at its edges to serve as a stitch cutter in casethe stitches extend too far toward the end of the welt. The notch also, by engaging the stitches. serves to position the shoe laterally with respect to the blade 24 and the knife 14. After the shoe is positioned with the end of the blade beneath the end of the welt and the rear face of theshoe a ainst the abutment 26, further pressure 0 the shoerearwardly tends to swing the member20 about the pivot .22 and to bring the work into the field of operation of the knivesfl4, and as soon as movement of the member 20is 'arrested by the stop 32 the desired portion of the welt endwill have beenremoved by the rapidly repeated action of the knives l i.

During this operation each of the mem hers 16 as it comes into 'engagementwith the end of the welt. serves to flatten the. welt and hold it "firmly against the blade 2.4 while atthe' same time it yields "inwardly sui'licicntly to expose the cutting edge of the blade 14 which accordingly removes a portion of the. welt, a new portion being removed by each knife as it comes into operative relation to the work. and so on until the stop 32 limits further movement of. the work c operation is completed on that end of the welt. The operator then repeats the opertiou upon the welt end at the opposite side of the shoe. The member 26 extends laterlatively to the knife, and the butting ally as shown in Fig. 2, to serve asa suit- 7 able abutment for the work when either end of the weltis presented to the cutter.

The blade 24may be given theformation shown in Fig.5, in which case the end of the blade s not only beveled longitudinally but is also beveled laterally sothat the inner edge of the welt is beveled at a greater an le than the outer'edge of the welt. Thejbeve ed portion 46 of the blade 24 is dperativewhen the welt upon the right side of the shoe presented by the operatoris being treated, and as the welt endis pressed against the beveled portion l6 by the action of the member 16 the welt endis twisted slightly so that the knife skives it off at a lateral inclination, theportion of the welt having the longer taper being atthe outer edge of the welt end opposite the longer tapered portion of the face 46. lVhen operating upon the opposite end of the welt the beveled face 48 of the blade 24 will of course be operative and will cause the other welt end to be beveled otl also with its longer tapered portion on the outside. The result of this operation of the faces ac, clearly shown in Fig. at of the drawing. It will be clear that when a sole is applied to the heel-seat of a shoe having the end portions of the welt thus formed the portion of the welt having the longer taper is presented along the outer edge of the sole and that, therefore, the danger of an open joint appearing between the welt and the sole is eliminated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a welt butting machine, the combination of a. rotary cutter having a cutting edge arranged to extend across the welt throughout its width, and a beater arranged in advance of the cutter to treat the welt prior to the cutting action of the cutter.

2. In a welt butting machine, the combination of a knife adapted for continuous rotation, a blade arranged to extend beneath the welt end of a shoe, and a support for the blade arranged to permit upward and rearward movement of the blade to position the shoe relatively to the cutter.

3. In a welt butting machine, shoe positioning means comprising a back gage, and a member arranged to be inserted beneath the welt, said means being mounted for upward and rearward movement with a shoe positioned thereon, combined with a. continuously running rotary cutter to which the shoe is fed by said upward and rearward movements to cause successive shavings to be removed from the welt end by the cutter.

l. In a welt butting machine, the com bination of a single blade adapted to extend below the free portion of either end of the welt of a shoe, said blade having a notch in its end arranged to act upon the welt stitches to position either end of the welt relatively to the blade, and a butting knife above the welt and co-operating with the blade to bevel the welt end.

5. In a welt butting machine, a. welt butting knife, and a member adapted to extend under the rear portion of either end of the welt and formed wit-h a notch to receive the inseam stitches and to center the welt laterally relatively to the knife.

6. In a welt butting machine, a welt butts a notch to receive the insean'i stitches and to center the welt laterally relatively to the knife, the edges of the notchbeing sharpened to cutany stitches extending toward the heel-seat into line .with said member, and means for limiting the rearward movement of the shoe. a V a a 7. In a weltabutting machine, awelt sup port arranged to hold the inner edge of the welt higher than the outer edge of the welt, and a butting knife acting substantially in the plane of the snoe bottom to skive off the welt.

8. In a welt butting machine, the combination of a. support adapted to extend under the end of the welt, and a knife arranged to skive off. the portion of'the welt above the support, said knife and support being relatively positioned to cause the outer edge of the welt to be beveled with a longer taper than the inner edge of the welt.

9. In a machine of the class described, a blade adapted to extend beneath the end of the welt of a welted shoe and having an end portion with an outwardly and downwardly inclined bevel and a butting knife arranged to act in the general plane of the blade, and means for relatively operating the blade and cutter to form the welt end with a bevel which is longer at the outer side of the shoe than at the inner side of the shoe.

10. In a welt butting machine, the combination of a rotary cutter having a fixed radius of movement, and abeater arranged in ad *ance of the cutter to treat the Welt prior to the cutting action of the cutter, said heater being yieldingly n'iounted and held outwardly of the cutter edge by' centrifugal force due to rotation of the cutter.

11. In a welt butting machine, the combination of av welt butting knife, a notched blade arranged to extend. beneath one end of a. welt attached to a shoe with the notch engaging the inseam to locate the shoe laterally,

and an abutment extending laterally of the blade on each side thereof to form a rest for the end of the shoe when either end of the weltis presented to the blade and to prevent a the free end of the Welt of a shoe having.

nation of a blade adapted to extend below a blade adapted to-extend beneath the end of the welt of a welted shoe and having an end portion with an outwardly and downwardly inclined bevel at each side and a but ting knife arranged to act in the general plane ofthe blade, and means for relatively operating the blade and cutter to form either 15 the right or left end of the welt with a bevel which is longer at the outer side of the shoe than at the inner side of the shoe. Intestimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. r

'7 ANDREW EPPLER.- 

